Help
by DarlingDearestDeadForever
Summary: Set during 2x11 'By the light of the moon' where Tyler first transforms.  "You stayed. Nobody ever stayed."He murmurs into her hair. She shrugs, "You look like you needed me."
1. Chapter 1

Title: Help

Pairing: FORWOOD (FOREVER!)

Series: The Vampire Diaries

_Italics – Caroline's thoughts_

Enjoy!

* * *

She is crying by the time she throws the lamp away and runs to the motionless body that is Tyler Lockwood.

"Tyler? You're okay! You're okay. You made it! You didn't get out, you're okay." She breathed raggedly as she embraces him, hearing him whimper in pain. She turns his face so that she sees his eyes, his warm, hazel eyes. She brings her face and rests her cheek on his. She repeats her sentence, like a mantra.

_Say something. _

"No, I'm not." His voice breaks, he breaks.

Caroline almost wishes that he stayed silent instead of falling to pieces right in front of her.

He is crying. Tyler Lockwood, the guy that made every kid cry during recess back in preschool, is crying. Caroline doesn't need to breathe now that she's a vampire, but this is the first time she has ever felt like she's suffocating.

They stay there for hours, all the way until sunbeams penetrate the hellhole they were in, from the entrance to the old Lockwood mansion, a cage now.

He is still in her arms or rather; she is still clinging onto him. He might dissolve if she even so much as loosened her grip.

"Thank you." He whispers to her gently, hoarsely. At this moment, she remembers the ordeal that he has just been through and remembers he needs food, he needs water, he needs medicine because he's probably injured something, he needs something to give, he needs, he needs he needs…he needs someone to help him.

She, slowly and painfully, lets go of him. She stands up, frantically looking around for food and water and some clothes and medicine. Her eyes are everywhere as she searches and searches and searches. There! She finds them. Even though it's practically in arms' reach, she uses her speed, grabs them and speeds back to Tyler.

She tries to smile at him, reassure him.

"Tyler, you need to drink, you need to hydrate yourself." She says gently as she tries to get him to sit up, leaning him against a rock. She lifts the bottle to his lips. Carefully, she tips the bottle. He swallows, with enormous difficulty.

"Just one more, you need to drink up after-" She stops herself and curses herself inwardly.

She stops when she hears a soft chuckle. She looks down at him.

She drinks the sight of him; closed eyes and a lazy, peaceful smile, as if he didn't just go to hell and back.

In her mind, Stefan and Damon's warning of just how dangerous all of this is – her staying with Tyler through his transformation, being by his side in general – echoes.

She puts down the bottle of water and she stares, her heart dropping as she continues.

"Blondie?"

She snaps back at his voice, still hoarse. She smacks herself in her mind for making him exert himself when he clearly was still recovering, for being selfish and staring at him when she should clearly be helping him.

He opens his eyes.

"How long – what time…" He trails off, unable to continue.

"It's around 9am…" She takes his hand and caresses it, "Just a little over 12 hours."

Tyler begins to cough violently and she's ready to cry again, because there's blood and she hasn't fed.

A hiss escapes her lips as she feels both disgust and desire. She is as far away from him in the blink of an eye, gulping air hungrily.

He continues to cough. Maybe he never noticed what just happened? Her chest tightens at every painful sound he makes and it is enough for her urges to recede and before even she knows it, she is back at his side with a piece of cloth, wiping the blood away.

All she cares for is him.

_Right now, just right now, only for now._

Tyler's coughing stops and he looks at her, his face torn with an emotion she can't place.

Then she gets it. Shame. Humiliation. Weakness.

Caroline roughly grabs his shoulders and pulls him to her. "No! You aren't going to PMS on me now and be all moody! Tyler, you survived!" She practically shouts at him, letting the relief of her statement wash over herself. "You have nothing to be ashamed of." She ends in a whisper, looking at him.

She realizes only a moment later how close they are, in ways more than one and she immediately remembers, once again, Stefan and Damon's warning.

And once again, she just stares, defeat flooding her like a tidal wave.

She is thinking of kissing Tyler Lockwood.

She looks at him carefully. He's still stunned at what just happened. She never fully blown shouted at him before. She smiles sadly to herself and looks down. She never expected that this is how she'd make Tyler Lockwood speechless.

She flinches as she feels his warm fingers touch her cheek.

Her eyes widen in alarm as she whips her head up to face him.

He is suddenly so, so close.

_He's causing it again, __I'm suffocating again._

She is pulled into the tightest and warmest embrace she has ever received.

He whispers fervently, as he grips her tightly, "I don't know what I would have…become if you didn't – if you weren't – Thank you, just – God – thank you Caroline."

She laughs shakily and so does he, thinking this is some sappy and emotional moment. She starts to pull away only to realize that he isn't moving away.

"You stayed. Nobody ever stays." He murmurs into her hair and then pulls away, smiling at her.

She cracks a smile and shrugs, "You look like you needed me." She says simply as she watches him lean against the rock again, a sunray illuminating them both.

He chuckles. "Nah. Forbes, it looks like you need me way more than I need you from here actually." He teases, once again closing his eyes to rest.

She only moves to sit beside him, her smile fading away.

When she confirms that he's sleeping, she starts to cry. She reaches out to touch him only to pull back right when she's about to.

"You don't know how much." She whispers, and she knows he surely won't hear, because she outside, in the woods, staring at the stairs leading to him.

Stefan and Damon are there, watching her silently as she sinks to the ground. She continues to stare at those stairs, listening for any sound from Tyler that he might need her.

"I know. 'I told you so' right?" She says out loud to them.

She turns around with a smile on her face, challenging them and waits for Damon to nod, waits for Stefan to lecture her. They do neither.

Her smile crumbles, she crumbles. "I – It happened before I even knew what was- I'm sorry." She heaves as Stefan wraps his arms around her.

"Sssh, it's okay." Stefan coos. Damon even pats her back. "I don't know what to do, this so unfair! He doesn't even see me that way and –"

Then all three of them hear Tyler groan in pain.

_Tyler._

Caroline is gone before Stefan or Damon can do anything.

* * *

Fin.

Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes!

Caroline disappeared to Tyler's side, in case it wasn't clear.

I tried putting in some ambiguity there, with the title being 'Help' and the whole concept of 'Need' and the different types of danger. I also toyed around with some dynamics, like how that scene where Tyler suddenly reached out to touch Caroline's cheek and him leaning towards her was actually just a lead-up to him giving her a platonic hug. Plus that part where he 'murmurs into her hair'. Usually such intimacy is clearly a romantic notion but since this whole piece is through Caroline's eyes, that's basically my way of showing how she gets her hopes up that Tyler feels the same way she does when actually, she misinterprets it because it was all just appreciative, friendly gestures.

I mean, they do have to have some kind of intimacy, they have been through so much together and it just wouldn't make sense if there wasn't any development.

I really hope they get together though. I mean, Matt is a nice guy but after all FORWOOD (FTW) has gone through, Matt just kinda basically lost, in my opinion.

Hope you liked it!

-Darlingdearestdeadforever


	2. Chapter 2

Setting: This happens the next night after Tyler's 1st transformation. I would guess this is the day before they go back to school, meaning right before 2x12 'The Descent', WHICH MUST COME NOW, NOT IN JANUARY.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or the characters from the book/TV series in this story. The plot is mine though.

Enjoy!

* * *

Caroline looks up to the night sky and flinches.

It's almost a full moon.

She immediately turns back to Tyler, sleeping on his bed, searching his face for any sign of discomfort or worse…pain. When she reassures herself that even if the moon was almost a whole 360 degrees, it wasn't. If she looks closely, she sees that the moon is waning and just like that, everything is right in the world.

It's the next night following Tyler's transformation. After she found him, cold and exposed in the early hours at dusk, it took the whole morning and afternoon for him to regain his strength and be able to walk without limping. Her thoughts linger on the horrific images that she knows she will never forget. She hears echoes of Tyler's screams in her head but seeing him fast asleep – alive and healing - deafens her to all of it.

Her fingers ghost over Tyler's cheek. She gingerly wipes away his sweat with a cloth in her other hand.

He isn't sleeping well, it is evident by the way he tosses and turns and the frown on his face. He's having nightmares. She silently curses herself for not being able to do anything for him yet again, just when he needs someone to do that exact thing. Kneeling by his bedside, lightly running her fingers through his hair, diligently wiping his sweat and when the nightmares didn't stop, she does something she stopped doing ever since her father left her.

She prays.

It feels wrong. It feels like she's violating something as holy and innocent as praying and the whole concept of God and religion because she's fairly certain she should be burning in hell. She is dead and yet she cheated and stays on earth as a blood-feeding parasite. She has eternal life and youth, strength and speed but she's damned and she doesn't deserve any help. She shouldn't be calling out to God or whoever it is up there.

But she does, it's all she can do.

But before she even utters a word, it becomes quiet all of a sudden. She looks back at Tyler and upon seeing his calm face, hearing his slow, deep breaths; she lets herself cry in relief. It is then and there that she decides that she's going stay there for the rest of the night. She'll just have to leave before Tyler wakes up so she won't freak him out. Anyway, ever since she became a vampire, sleeping became boring and something she only settled into as a last resort when she couldn't find anything to do with all the time she had on her hands.

She gazes at Tyler and she hates how cheesy and pathetic she looks right now but there's nobody looking. She gazes at him with a longing she doesn't bother hiding now that she has some time for herself. She thinks that if they see her right now, Stefan would probably shake her by the shoulders until she sees sense and Damon would probably laugh in her face until he cried his eyes out but neither scenario stops her from wishing she was a werewolf instead.

Sighing in irritation, Caroline stops thinking altogether.

She stays and then weirdly, she feels sleepy. She wonders whether it's because of what happened the night before with Tyler or it is because of Tyler. She rests her head on the bed by his side and closes her eyes.

She wakes to the incessant ringing of the alarm clock on the bedside table. She rushed and turns it off and looks back frantically at Tyler. She sighs in relief, seeing that he hasn't woken up yet.

She glances at the alarm clock on the bedside table, the alarm Tyler himself set so that he'd wake up for school. She had thought of chucking the alarm clock out the window so that it would smash into pieces when he told her what he was doing. He shouldn't be going to school after such an ordeal but then she remembers how going to school everyday like all was normal kept her sane when she was new to her turning so she understands how Tyler wants things to go back to normal as soon as possible.

She turns back to Tyler and just looks. A second later, she sees his warm, amber eyes.

She turns to run.

Tyler Lockwood stands up and catches her wrist. "You forget I'm as fast as you now, Care." He reminds her.

She curses under her breath and it's not because she has been caught. It's because she's all shook up at how affectionately he called her by her nickname. She's cursing because she's acting like a schoolgirl with a bad crush. She turns around with a bright smile on her face.

"Hi, Tyler!" She chirps.

He is still holding onto her wrist. Her wrist is on fire.

"Actually, I was just here to check up on you before I headed for school. You look great! How are you feeling?" She asks.

He smirks at her, looking wide awake and tilts his head as he pulls her closer. "I happen to know you stayed the night, Forbes." He teases.

"Well that answers the question. You're back to your egoistical self. How nice." She says dryly. "And by the way, I didn't spend the night here, why would I when-"

"You're wearing the same clothes from that night, what does that tell me?" He counters. He grins at her.

She pictures herself banging her head against a wall because she shouldn't be going crazy over how Tyler Lockwood remembers what she wore. She shouldn't be going crazy over Tyler Lockwood, period.

Now her whole face feels hot, even if it is impossible because vampires didn't blush but she can't help but notice that his hand slipped lower from her wrist and is now gripping her hand.

"I am not wearing the same clothes!" She protests but inside she knows it's no use. "I went home and changed and then went up here to check up on you. Gee, thanks Tyler, this is what I get for looking out for you."

He just shakes his head, his eyes twinkling with playfulness. "There's dirt on your clothes, Care. What did you do, hike here? Obviously, the dirt's from the old Lockwood property you and I were at yesterday."

Before she can think of a witty comeback, he tugs her hand and pulls her towards him until she is so, _so_ close to him, until she can see that when the sun hits his amber eyes, they look like liquid gold.

Of course, she can't breathe. She doesn't have to but that didn't matter because he's breathtaking and that's what he's doing to her and it isn't fair. He leans in until his lips are against her ear, his hot breath caressing her neck.

She shivers.

"Besides, I could smell you." He says into her ear.

She pulls away. "What? Do I stink that much?" She fretted, obviously distraught. "Ew. Wait, are you playing with me Lockwood, I didn't smell anything!" She bursts.

"So you do admit you were here, in my bedroom, the whole night?" He looks at her expectantly, smirking yet again.

She swears she's blushing, realizing the double meaning of Tyler's words.

"No! I told you I was – I went – and…_oh shit_." It's a lame ending and she knows that this is the end. Tyler Lockwood just chuckles and once again he tugs her hand again, pulling her closer again.

And when he buries his face into the crook of her neck and inhales deeply, when his free hand comes up to the curve of her back and the other hand on her waist, she is suddenly frozen.

"You smell like…" He trails off, planting light kisses on her neck as his lips venture lower. Caroline moans softly as her hands grip his chest, "Ty- _Tyler_."

"Like vanilla, like peaches, like honey…" He whispers fervently into her hair and then he moves so that his lips are right at the corner of hers, almost touching.

He grins when he hears her whimper.

"It means a lot to me Caroline. _You_ mean a lot to me. I knew it was you because you're the only one who's ever stayed with me, I told you that." He whispers huskily before he pulls back even more, only to cradle her face so tenderly in his hands that her chest constricts. His warm, amber eyes see right through her.

He leans in, pausing just when she almost feels his lips on hers. "I want you to know Caroline, _thank you_."

Her eyes widen, hearing the rawness and an unmistakable tinge of desperation in his voice. He presses their lips together with such ferocity and hunger that it burns. Everything burns. With him, she feels warmth she hasn't felt since she died. And-

"_Caroline?"_

She jumps up to her feet, startled and disoriented.

Tyler is staring at her like she just sprouted wings

"_Did you…did you sleep here?"_

All she can think about is that it is the first time she's had a dream since she died, which shouldn't happen because vampires can't have dreams.

She's already gone, but not before Tyler Lockwood sees that she was crying.

* * *

It was all a dream. I didn't add a partition because then it would be obvious that something's up. In the promo for 'The Descent', we see Tyler trying to comfort Caroline about something when he says "I'm right here." (YES, OMG THAT LINE IS JUST-AHHH!) So from here, connect the dots.

Oh, I made up the 'vampires can't have dreams' part. I just think that they wouldn't be able to, since they don't actually need sleep in the first place.

Sorry for any spelling/grammar mistakes!

Hope you guys liked it!

-DarlingDearestDeadForever


	3. Chapter 3

Setting: When Tyler wakes up in Chapter 2, only in his POV, and the moments after Caroline speeds away.

It's quite short, but I felt it gave away just enough. Let the last chapter complete it all!

I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Nothing except the plot belongs to me.

_Italics - Tyler's thoughts_

* * *

He wakes up and he's already praying that it was all just a dream…or a nightmare.

Then he looks down and sees blonde curls beside him and-

"Caroline?" The moment her name comes out from his mouth, he winces. He was a tad bit too loud and she wakes and jumps up stick straight like she's just been electrocuted.

He looks at her in utter shock, trying to piece things together.

"Did you…did you sleep here?" And shit, is Tourette's part of the curse or what because he didn't mean to sound disgusted but that's how he sounded like.

_She should be disgusted by me, not the other way around._

She just stares at him like he had a horse's ass for a face and that's when he notices the tears, that's when he notices she's crying.

He sees her try to run for it and next thing he knows, despite every aching bone in his body, he's reaching out for her to stop her and then maybe he can apologize for being so rude-

She's gone.

"Damnit!" He swears angrily. He's already finished putting on a pair of pants, reaches for a shirt, all but ready to run after her when his mother bursts into his room.

"Tyler Lockwood! Where the hell have you been?" She's screaming into his ear and he slumps back down to his bed, dropping the shirt on his lap, wearily covering his face with his palms.

The image of Caroline Forbes crying is ingrained into his brain and even with his eyes closed, he sees with the 'replay' button on.

He sighs. "Mom…I'm sorry okay? I really should've called but…I was trying to find Mason." He looks up and glances at her. His mother immediately stops shouting and her face softens.

It isn't a total lie. He had been trying to find his uncle. It was stupid but he hoped that maybe he'd sense Mason when he was…a werewolf, some mind telepathy thing that he now knows does not exist. Granted, he was trapped in the cellar but he was hoping that maybe Mason would have come back. But he didn't of course.

His mother sits beside him and faces him. "Tyler…I know you really hit it off with your uncle when he came by but…that's it. He just came by. He isn't coming back, he has a life outside this small town and-"

He stands up abruptly. He can't take this, not now. The image of Caroline crying in his bedroom just a few moments before is in eternal 'replay' mode in his mind and he has to find her.

"Look mom, I know that now okay? Can we just drop it? I need to get ready for school." He shrugs.

Mrs. Lockwood sighs and smoothens the creases on her dress as she stands up slowly. "Alright. I'll be off to work then." She replies a bit too stiffly, disappointment evident in her voice but he tries not to let it bother him, because he's sure as hell that telling his mother about the curse would just make things worse. He waits for her to close the door before he does anything.

He's thinking that maybe he should take a shower or something because he hasn't had one since that night so he heads to the shower. He peels off his clothes once the door is closed. He reaches for the showerhead, he closes his eyes.

_Caroline._

Cold water hits him.

* * *

Fin.

Just a filler-up chappy. To shed some light on how Tyler felt after his transformation because up until now, it's been all Caroline. I tried to come into character for this but I don't know if I have Tyler down to art. Or Caroline for that matter.

Double update! Next chapter is the last!

-Darlingdearestdeadforever


	4. Chapter 4

Setting: This is Tyler's POV during the time Caroline was with Stefan and Damon in Chapter 1 and a few moments after she comes back when she hears him groan in pain.

I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Nothing except plot belongs to me.

_Italics - Tyler's thoughts_

* * *

**"Is this the end of the moment or just a beautiful unfolding of a love that will never be or maybe be everything that I never thought could happen?" **

**- Anywhere But Here by Safetysuit**

He opens his eyes, the sun glaring in his face. He squints.

_Great, even my eyes hurt now. What else?_

It doesn't really matter though, like how it doesn't matter that he's naked, sitting on the ground against a rock, in what he now considers a prison cell for monsters like him.

He really thought he would've died.

He doesn't know whether to find it normal or disturbing that he's actually disappointed by the fact he's still kicking it.

But he remembers everything, every single waking second of pure agony and he's scared to admit it but he can vaguely remember the animalistic noises he made and how he couldn't help but want to kill Caroli-

_Caroline._

He's looking around frantically and it takes him a while to digest the fact that there's nobody but him down there in the Old Lockwood property.

He supposes that this is what should happen. She was incredibly stupid to have stayed when they both know that he could have hurt her or maybe even killed her. He supposes that maybe it's best that he should be alone with this…this curse.

He supposes that it's just because he's a wreck right now that he finds his own convictions hollow and obvious lies.

Coming from him, Tyler Lockwood, that is saying something. He's been lying since preschool, lying is next to breathing for all he cares but here he is, lying to himself.

He's surprisingly calm about this whole predicament, even he's surprised. Of course, his whole body is aching, right down to his toes, but like he said that doesn't matter to him.

_She does, if __that ever counts._

And she isn't here.

He sighs in aggravation. He's pining.

He remembers her staying. _Through everything_. That alone warrants his pining but he's still denying it.

Most of all, he remembers hearing her call him when he woke up from the nightmare. It's the first thing he remembers but he's denying that too.

Because afterall, he's denying that the first thought he had was _her_.

He knows it means something, but he also knows that he shouldn't be screwing with the pure, selfless friendship that Caroline gave him.

He should be thinking that it shouldn't even mean something but he isn't thinking that and it's all he needs to realize that he might be having it bad.

Then he's wishing that she's there with him.

That's when he decides, _just fuck it_, he's going to get her back.

He stands up so suddenly that pain shoots up his leg. He groans in pain before he sinks back to the ground.

"Damnit, what the h-"

He's reaching for his leg but he feels something cool on his knee and it sooths the pain, even if that sounds crazy. He looks and sees someone's hand.

He looks up immediately.

_She's back._

He smiles so wide that his jaw hurts but he can't feel it, it doesn't make sense, but it's the truth. The only thing he feels is her cool hand holding his hand just as tightly as he is holding hers.

He feels something burst in his chest and it's damn cheesy and corny but it fills him, it floods him. His smile falters, he feels winded, like he just got punched in the gut unaware.

He bites down his lips hard.

_I love you._

_

* * *

_

Fin.

He stopped himself from saying it. This is the end of this fic! As I wrote in the 1st chapter, I cannot go AU unless the story is set a few years later, but even then, I'd still make the past the same. This corresponds with the 2x12 promo. He does love her and that's why he'll kiss her!

I decided to make this the later chapter than the last one because it's kind of the piece of the puzzle that explains everything else.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE POURING SUPPORT YOU ALL HAVE GIVEN FOR THIS FIC!

I don't know but maybe I will continue this. Because FORWOOD IS FOREVER and I just might have new ideas.

-DarlingDearestDeadForever


End file.
